The night was quiet—too quiet.
The safehouse lay buried deep within the industrial ruins, surrounded by rusting factories and broken windows. To outsiders, it looked abandoned, but inside, Luv and Ayu had carved a temporary den.
A single lamp flickered on the table where Ayu cleaned her blades. Luv sat opposite her, his eyes closed, body relaxed but his ears attuned to every sound. He wasn't resting. He was listening.
And then, he heard it.
The faint scrape of boots on gravel. The almost inaudible click of a gun being loaded. Breaths being held in the dark.
"We're surrounded," Luv murmured without opening his eyes.
Ayu didn't flinch. She slid her blade back into its sheath, lips curving into the faintest smile.
"Took them long enough."
The first assassin came through the window, silent as a shadow, twin daggers glinting under the moonlight. He aimed straight for Luv's throat.
But Luv moved faster. His hand shot up, catching the man's wrist mid-strike. Bones cracked as Luv twisted, flipping the assassin into the table. The lamp shattered, plunging the room into darkness.
Ayu's voice was sharp, amused.
"Now it's fair."
From every angle, they came—five, six, seven assassins, armed with blades, silenced pistols, and chains.
The room erupted in chaos.
Ayu darted through the shadows like a phantom. A gun clicked, and she was already there, slicing the shooter's throat before the trigger could pull. Blood sprayed across the walls, warm and thick, as she spun, her second blade stabbing into another man's gut.
Luv was raw power. A chain whipped toward him, wrapping around his arm. He yanked, pulling the assassin into a brutal headbutt. The man crumpled. Another charged with a knife; Luv seized him by the collar and slammed him into the wall so hard the plaster cracked.
The assassins were trained, efficient, but the wolves were merciless.
One tried to slip past Ayu, aiming for Luv's blind spot. She caught him mid-step, her blade sliding between his ribs. She whispered in his ear as he fell, voice cold:
"Eyes forward, fool."
Another fired a silenced round at Luv. The bullet grazed his shoulder, but he didn't flinch. He charged forward, smashing the man's gun arm until bone splintered, then drove his fist through the assassin's chest with terrifying force.
The safehouse floor was slick with blood, bodies strewn like broken dolls. Only one assassin remained—a woman with a scarred cheek, her dagger trembling in her hand as she faced the wolves.
Ayu tilted her head, eyes gleaming in the dark.
"Go," she whispered. "Run. Tell them what you saw."
The woman hesitated, fear and duty warring in her eyes. Then she bolted into the night, vanishing into the shadows.
Silence returned.
Luv stood amidst the carnage, chest rising and falling steadily. Ayu wiped her blades clean with a rag, her lips curling into a satisfied smirk.
"The first wave," she said. "More will come."
Luv nodded. His voice was calm, almost cold.
"Let them send everything they have. Each one is just fuel for the wolves."
Outside, the city was stirring. The first assassins had failed. The hunt was far from over.